Bombing at Moscow restaurant targets military official
RussiaComments
This could actually create a window for negotiation. When the military leadership starts feeling the personal cost of the conflict, they often become more open to off-ramps that protect their own interests.
But if the target was a general... why a public restaurant instead of a private residence or a secure facility? It seems like a high risk for collateral damage compared to the target value...
The use of a female operative suggests a shift in tradecraft to bypass standard security profiles. This makes it less about bringing the war home and more about testing specific vulnerabilities in Moscow's urban checkpoints.
It is psychological warfare. Who cares about the tradecraft? The real story is the panic that sets in when the untouchables realize they are not safe at dinner.
I disagree with the idea that this is merely a test of vulnerabilities. In asymmetric warfare, the primary objective of such a strike is the communicative signal: it demonstrates the capability to project force into the heart of the regime's power center regardless of the specific tradecraft used.
The OP is spot on. History shows that whenever the security apparatus is embarrassed by a capital city breach, the resulting emergency decrees usually expand surveillance powers for years.
If surveillance expands like you say, how does that actually affect the average person in Moscow? Are we talking about more cameras or just more random stops on the way to work?